Wire-fence machine.



G. A. RAYMOND.

WIRE FENCE MACHINE.

APPLIOATIOH FILED JULY 5, 1911.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Fly]

WITNESSES; 4 22 INVENTOR. 2 47 z V BY ATTORNEY.

COLUMBIA PLANOORAPH c0.. WASHING-TON. n. C.

Patented May 7, 1912.

G. A. RAYMOND.

WIRE FENCE MAcHmE. APPLICATION FILED JULY 5, 1911 Patented May 7; 1912.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2 fig,

WITNE QBNOLM.

Wham. A TTORNEY.

G. A. RAYMOND.

WIRE FENCE MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULIE, 1911.

1,025,307, 7 Pat ntedMay '7, 1912.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

WITNESSES:

' v v INVENTOR.

m arys,;,a;m M f ATTORNEY.

CDLUMBIA PLANDCIRAPH 60., wAsmiwuToN u G. A. RAYMOND. WIRE FENCE MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 5, 1911.

Pa tented Ma'yj'Y, 1912.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

. w M a 6 5 o X W p o p f; n f w; W If j f k W 5 4 (U/ #M w x f 0 /f m a m in I m I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE A. RAYMOND, OF MIDLAND, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT AND MESNE' ASSIGNMENTS, T0 FRANK G. EVANS, TRUSTEE, OF BATTLE CREEK, MICHIGAN.

WIRE-FENCE MACHINE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE A. RAYMOND, a citizen of the United States, residing at Midland, in the county of Midland and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in VVire-Fence Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descrlptlon of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention is a machine for manufacturing wire fence and pertains more particularly to machines for the manufacture of that type of wire fence comprising horizontal line wires connected at regular intervals by vertical wires termed cross-bars. The line wires are formed of two strands twisted together, the cross-bars being held between the twisted strands of the line wires. The cross-bars are preferably crimped.

The objects of my invention are to produce a simple, durable and comparatively inexpensive loom for the manufacture of wire fence of the type above described and for similar uses.

My invention also comprises improved means for twisting the line wires and inserting the cross-bars, the twisting device being so constructed that a splice in the line wire will readily pass through it and not interfere with the operation of the machine. The twisting device is also provided with means by which the crossbar is forcibly beaten into the angle formed by the twisted line wires, thereby more tightly holding the cross-bar between the line wires.

My invention also provides automatic means whereby the loom will be stopped in case the end of the line wire runs ofl the supply reel.

Means is also provided for automatically stopping the loom in case the crossbar does not feed in properly.

I also provide means for easily and quickly adjusting the machine to suit different lengths of cross-bars and for automatically feeding the cross-bars from a coil into the machine and severing them.

With these and certain other objects in view, which will appear later in the specifications, my invention consists in the devices and combinations described and pointed out in the claims.

A preferred form of my improved loom Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 5, 1911.

Patented May '7, 1912.

Serial No. 637,015.

is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a front view showing one of the wire twisting devices in place; Fig. 2 is a side view of the cross-bar feeding device; Fig. 3 is a side view of the frame of the machine as seen from the left in Fig. 1, the feeding device being omitted; Fig. 4: is a similar side view as seen from the right in Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a sectional View of the wire twisting device; Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the twister; Fig. 7 is a top plan view of the sweep or stripper by which the crossbar is beaten up into the intersection of the two line wires; Fig. 8 is a bottom view of the same; Fig. 9 is a detail showing the type of fence which the machine is adapted to manufacture; Fig. 10 is a perspective detail of the mechanism by which the machine is stopped when a cross-bar breaks; Fig. 11

is a perspective detail of the device by which the machine is stopped when a line wire breaks; Fig. 12 is a detail of the device by which the crossbars are cut to length after being fed into the machine; Fig. 13 is a side View of the cutting device and the cams that operate it; Fig. 14 is an edge view of the cams; and Fig. 15 is a fragmentary view of the line wire safety hooks.

As is clearly shown in the drawings, the machine consists in a suitable frame 1 on which is mounted a horizontal shaft 2 carrying wheels 3 provided with radial projections 4 adapted to engage the cross-bars 5 of the fence and thereby draw the fence out of the machine. The shaft 2 and wheels 3 revolve intermittently. The projections 4 are spaced circumferentially the same distance apart as the cross-bars 5 in the completed fence, and each partial rotation of the wheel 3 is sufiicient to draw the fence a distance equal to the space between two cross-bars. The line wires 6 and 7 are received in pairs from any suitable reel, each pair passing through a twister head 8, the construction of which will be described later in the specification. Simultaneously with the forward revolution of the wheels 8, the twister 8 is revolved, twisting that part of the strands 6 and 7 extending between the wheel 3 and the twister head. The wheel 3 and the twister head 8 stop simultaneously. The cross-bar 5 is then inserted between the strands 6 and 7 by a device to be further described, and the wheels 3 and twister head 8 again revolve, but the twister head 8 this time revolves in the opposite direction so that the strands 6 and 7 lying on opposite sides of the cross-bar 5 are oppositely twisted.

The mechanism by which shaft 2 and its wheels 3 are intermittently revolved will be presently set forth, but first the construct-ion and mode of operation of the twister head 8 will be detailed.

\Vhile I have, for the sake of clearness, shown in Fig. 1 only one twister head, it is to be understood that the complete machine requires as many twister heads as there are line wires in the completed fence.

The twister head is illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6. It consists essentially in a cylindrical spindle 9 having a central passage 10, the ends of the passage branching out to form laterally inclined openings 12 and 13. The twister head is preferably made of cast iron or cast steel, and the passages are cored, thereby securing a lining of extremely hard slightly chilled metal around the passages to withstand the wear of the wires. The large central opening permits splices in the wire to pass freely through the twister head, and the grooves 15 afford a long wearing surface and prevent scarring the galvanized wire. The upper end 1 1 of the spindle is fiatted on two sides, the remaining two sides being formed with grooves 15 communicating with the openings 13. A pinion 16 is fixed to the spindle 9, and the body of the spindle is received in the bearing 17 and revolves therein. The bearing 17 is supported by a bar 18 passing through an opening 19 in the bearing.

The pinion 16 and the spindle 9 attached to it are revolved first in one direction and then in the other, by a horizontally traveling rack 20 carried on the frame 1, as shown in Fig. 1.

The strands 6 and 7 of the linewire are received in the branch openings 12, pass through the central opening 10, out through the side openings 13 and along the grooves 15, as shown in Fig. 5, and are twisted together while being drawn out by the wheels .3, the twisting being produced by the revolution of pinion 16 operated by the rack 20.

The revolution of spindle 9 ceases when the spindle is in such position that the grooves 15 and consequently the strands of the line wire lie in the same vertical plane so that the cross-bar 5 may be passed horizontally between them.

To facilitate inserting the cross-bar 5, I provide a notch 21 in the end of the spindle into which the cross-bar is received, thus at each stopping of the spindle 9 the crossbar 5 is inserted between the strands 6 and 7 by being passed endwise into the notch.

funnel-shaped guide 22 formed in the end of a pivot-ally mounted bifurcated bracket termed the stripper 23. The guide 22 is capable of straddling the flatted end 1 1 of spindle 9, as indicated in Figs. 7 and 12, and of being lifted clear therefrom, as indicated in Fig. 5. It is also provided with a funnel-shaped spring-pressed cap 23 pivoted to the stripper 23. lVhen the stripper 23 is lifted clear, as indicated by full lines in Fig. 5, the twister head is free to revolve by the act-ion of the rack 20. But when the rack reaches the end of its travel and the twister head stops as above do scribed, stripper 23 is made to straddle the flatted end 141 of the twister head. The cross-bar 5 is then pushed endwise through the funnel-shaped opening 22 and is thereby guided through the notch 21. Stripper 23 is then raised sharply, lifting cross-bar 5 and -jamming it tightly into the angle formed by the intersection of the twisted strands 6 and 7. The cross-bar 5 and bracket 23 being now clear of the twister head, the latter is enabled to revolve to twist the wires 6 and 7 in the opposite direction, the wires being simultaneously drawn forward by the wheels 3.

The operations above described may be brought about by a variety .of mechanisms, but the devices I prefer to use for that purpose are illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, in which 24 is a drive shaft which operates a driven shaft 25 by means of a pinion 2G and a gear 27, this latter gear being fixed to shaft 25. A mutilated gear 28, having teeth around only one-half of its circumference is also mounted on shaft 25 and meshes with a pinion 29 carried by a second intermittent driven shaft 30. A bevel pinion 31 is also mounted on shaft 30 and meshes with a bevel gear 32 keyed to a diagonally disposed shaft 33. On this diagonally disposed shaft is a crank 34: to which is connected a pitman 35 by means of a connecting link 36. The upper end of the pitman is pivotally connected to the rack 20 and the lower end plays freely between two rollers 36. A single revolution of gear 27 produces one revolution of mutilated gear 28, which in turn produces one-half of a revolution of crank 34. During the remaining one-half of the revolution of gear 2?, crank 31 remains stationary, and during the next succeeding half-revolution of gear 27 the crank 34 returns to its opposite dead point. It is thus seen that rack 20 moves to one extremity of its travel in a given length of time, remains stationary for an equal length of time and then returns to the opposite extremity of its travel. Rotation of gear 16 rotates twister head 8 first in one direction and then in the other. During the intervals between reversals of motion of the twister head, the head is stationary. It is during these stationary intervals that the cross-bar 5 is fed in and the stripper 23 is actuated to lift the bar 5 out of the notch 21 of the twister head and to jam the bar into the junction of the twisted wires 6 and 7, as has been previously described.

The strippers 23 are actuated by the following means: Each stripper is fixed to a rocker shaft 37 which is actuated by arocker arm 38, link 39 and an oscillating lever 40 which is pivoted to a bracket 41 carried by the frame. The lower end of oscillating lever 40 is bifurcated, as shown in Figs. 3 and 13, one of its members carrying a roller as 42 that rides on the top of cam 43, and the other member carries a roller 44 that rides on the side of cam 45. Both of the cams 43 and 45 are fixed to shaft 25. The cams are arranged side by side on the shaft, as shown in Fig. 14. It will be remembered that shaft 25 and cams 43 and 45 make one complete revolution for each operation of the twister head. During the twisting operation the teeth of gear 28 revolve pinion 29 and drive the rack to one end of its travel, thereby twisting the strands in one direct-ion. The mutilated portion of gear 28 then throws pinion 29 out of action, but shaft 25 continues to revolve and cam 45 engages roller 44, (see Fig. 13) forcing it outward and rocking shaft 37 to force the stripper 23 up, thereby raising the cross-bar 5 clear of the notch 21 in the twister head and j amming the cross-bar into the twisted intersections of the line wires, as indicated in Fig. 5. Simultaneously the crossbar, which has been fed into the machine transversely by the feeding mechanism which will presently be described, is severed by means of a shear blade 46 carried by the rocker arm 38.

The feeding in of the crossbar is accomplished by the means illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, in which 47 is a crank arm fixed to shaft 25, 48 is a pitman pivotally connected at its upper end to a vertically movable toothed rack 49 that engages a pinion 5O fixed to a horizontal shaft 51. On the shaft 51 is mounted a crimped driving wheel 52 and below is a similar idler crimping wheel The cross-bar 5 is fed between the wheels 52 and 53, as indicated in Fig. 1, and thence through the funnel-shaped guide 22 and the notch 21 of each twister head.

The crank arm 47 makes its up-stroke while the twister heads are stationary, and

cross-bar 5 is fed through the twister heads in the following manner: A ratchet wheel 54 is keyed to the shaft 51 and engages a pawl 55 pivoted to the face of the driving crimping wheel 52. During the down-stroke of crank 47 the crimping wheels do not revolve.

It will thus be seen that by the means above described the line wires are first twisted in one direction, the cross-bars are crimped and fed through the intersections of the line wires, the cross-bar is then jammed heads, is illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4, where 56 1s a ratchet wheel fixed to shaft 2 and adapted to be actuated by the engagement of a pawl 57 carried by a rocker arm 58 loosely mounted on shaft 2. The free end of arm 58 is moved up and down by a connecting rod 59 having at its lower end a crank 60 or equivalent device fixed to shaft 25 so that each upward stroke of crank 60 produces a forward movement of wheels .3, the down-stroke producing no movement of the wheels. The amount of movement of the wheels 3 and consequently the vertical spacing of the line wires in the completed fence, is adjusted by means of a pin 61 which may be clamped at various radially adjustable positions along the rocker arm 58, the rocker arm being provided with a slot 62 for that purpose. Similarly, the length of the cross-bars 5, and consequently the height of the fence, is adjusted by means of the pin 63 engagin a slot 64 formed in the crank arm 47 (see Fig. 2). I

The completed fence may be wound on a spool 65 driven by any suitable device as a belt 66, and gears 67 and 68 actuated by shaft 2, as is common in wire fence machines, or any other suitable means may be employed for rolling the completed fence.

It is of importance in machines of this type to provide means whereby the machine will automatically stop if the end of a line wire runs off the supply reel on its way to the twister heads, or if from any cause a cross-bar breaks or fails to pass clear through to the extreme pair of line wires. I have, therefore, provided means by which the machine will stop automatically under either of the above mentioned conditions. First, to automatically stop the machine if a cross-bar breaks, I provide the mechanism illustrated in Fig. 10, in which a finger 69 is automatically brought into contact with the cross-bar 5 and rests against it for an instant just at the time when the twisting of the line wires is commenced. If the crossbar breaks or is' absent, finger 69 will drop forward, resulting in stopping the machine. The mechanism by which this is accomplished will now be described. Finger 69 is loosely mounted on a rock shaft 7 O and is provided with an arm 71 from which depends a link 72, the lower end of which normally rides on the periphery of a cam 73 which is mounted on shaft 25. Cam 73' is formed wit-h a notch 74 into which the lower end of link 72 may drop if the finger 69 fails to come into engagement with the cross-bar 5, by reason of the absence, of the cross-bar. Fixed to rock shaft 70 and adjaeent to arm 71 is an arm 7 5 adapted to be engaged by a pin 76 fixed to arm 71 when the finger 69 drops forward as above described, thereby turning rock shaft 70 in the direction indicated by the arrow, Fig. 10. Fixed to rock shaft 70 is a second arm 77 adapted to engage the curved face of a swinging bar 7 8 which is mounted on the frame 1. Bar 7 8 is notched 01: at 79, to reeeive a toothed sliding cross-bar 80 and to normally hold the cross-bar up out of engagement with a ratchet wheel 81 fixed to shaft 24. Near one end of cross-bar 80 is pivoted a diagonal link 82, the other end of whichv is pivoted to a sliding block 83 mounted on a rod 84:, which, by 1ts endwise movement, actuates a clutch member 85 feathered on the shaft 24 (Fig. 1). A pulley 86 is loosely mounted on shaft 24 and has a clutch hub 87 adapted to be engaged by the clutch member 85 to throw shaft 24 into gear. A set collar 88 is fixed to rod 84 and is engaged by the sliding block 83. The operation of this part of the mechanism is as follows: When finger 69 is held upright by a properly placed cross-bar 5, the lower end of link 7 2 is held up and prevented from dropping into the notch 74 of the cam, but should cross-bar 5 break or be missing when notch 74 reaches the lower end of link 72, finger 69 will drop forward, the link will drop into the notch and pin 76 will come into engagement with the free end of arm and turn shaft 70 so that arm 77 will engage the curved face of swinging bar 78, throwing the notch 79 out of engagement with the toothed sliding cross-bar 80. Cross-bar 80 then drops into engagement with the revolving ratchet 81 and is pushed forward. Diagonal link 82 and sliding block 83 operate to push the set collar 88 and its sliding rod 84 back, thereby withdrawing clutch member 85 from engagement with the clutch hub of the pulley and stopping the machine. After the bar 80 has been replaced and finger 69 restored to its position against the cross-bar 5, clutch members 85 and 87 are reengaged by moving the rod 81 endwise, a hand lever 89 being provided for this purpose.

The mechanism by which the machine is thrown out of action in the-event of a line wire breaking, will now be described, reference being had to Figs. 1 and 11. Line wires 6 and 7 are supported on their way to the twister heads by hooks 90 having their upper ends adapted to contact with the underside of cross-bar 91. This bar is carried by arms 92 pivotally mounted on a rod 93 so that the hooks 90 and cross-bar 91 have a limited up-and-down movement.

out, however, its hook 90 will suddenly rise,

lifting eross bar 91 and stopping the machine by means of the mechanism which will now be described. To one of the bars 92 is pivoted a downwardly projecting rod 97, the lower end of which passes into a bracket 98 to engage a recess 99 in the longitudinally movable trip bar 100, which is slidably mounted in the bracket 98. Trip bar 100 carries a set collar 101 and a compression spring 102, which is normally prevented from moving the trip bar by reason of the engagement of the lower end of rod 93 with the trip bar. When a line wire runs out and cross-bar 91 lifts as has just been described, the compression spring is released and trip bar 100 is pushed forward. The upper end of this bar is pivoted to the free end of an arm 103 loosely mounted on rock shaft 70, and adjacent thereto is an arm 10& fixed to shaft 70 and carrying a. projecting pin 105. Vhen tri-p bar 100 is pushed forward, loose arm 103 engages pin 105, rotating shaft 70 to release the toothed sliding cross-bar 80 and throw the clutch member 85 out of gear in the same manner as has been previously described in connection with the operation of finger 09. After the line wires 6 and 7 are repaired the machine is again thrown into operation by means of the hand lever 89.

Vhile I have shown and described certain specific constructions as embodying the preferred means for accomplishing the various functions above described, yet it is to be understood that I do not desire to confine myself to such specific constructions, but may employ other equivalent mechanisms in lieu of those illustrated and described in these specifications.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a wire fence machine, a twister head comprising a cylindrical spindle, a pinion secured to said spindle, a bearing for said spindle, said spindle formed w1th a central passage having a pair of laterally inclined openings at each end of the spindle, the upper end of the spindle being fiatted and formed with grooves in the opposite edges of said flatted end, said fiatted end formed with a transverse notch, a stripping device pivotally mounted on said bearing,

the stripping device comprising a bifur cated bracket having a laterally disposed funnel-shaped guide; together with means for intermittently revolving said twister head and for drawing wires therethrough.

2. In a wire fence machine, a cross-bar crimping device comprising a crimped. driving wheel, a crimped idler wheel, a shaft loosely received in the hub of said driving wheel, a pinion on said shaft, a longitudinally movable rack engaging said pinion, and driving means adapted to actuate the rack in unison with the fence-forming device of said machine, a ratchet wheel fixed to said pinion shaft, and a pawl pivoted to said driving wheel and adapted to engage said ratchet wheel to actuate it in one direction only.

3. In a wire fence machine comprising twister heads, pinions thereon, and a reciprocating rack adapted to actuate said pinions simultaneously, a rack driving mechanism comprising a pitman pivoted at one end to said rack, a pair of guiding rollers slidingly receiving the pitman between them, a driving crank, a link connecting said driving crank with the middle portion of the pitman, a shaft for said crank, and gears adapted to actuate said shaft intermittently, and driving mechanism. actuating said gears.

4. In a wire fence machine, a severing and stripping mechanism comprising in combination, twister heads, bearings therefor, a stripper rock shaft carried by said bearings, a rocker arm secured to said shaft, a shearing device carried by said rocker arm, and means for actuating said rocker arm to operate said strippers and shearing device simultaneously.

5. In a wire fence machine, drawing wheels, and means for actuating said drawing wheels intermittently, said means comprising a driven shaft, a crank secured to the end of said driven shaft, a shaft for said drawing wheels, a rocker arm loosely mounted on said shaft, a ratchet wheel fixed to said shaft, a pawl pivotally mounted on the rocker arm and engaging said ratchet wheel, a slot in said rocker arm, and a connecting rod pivoted at its lower end to said crank and adjustably pivoted at its upper end to the slot in said rocker arm.

6. In a wire fence machine, a cross-bar safety device comprising in combination, a finger adapted to bear against said crossbar, and means adapted to automatically bring said finger into contact with said cross-bar intermittently, and means actuated by said-cross-bar adapted to stop the operation of the fence machine when said safety finger fails to contact with said crossbar.

7. In a wire fence machine, a cross-bar safety device comprising in combination, a finger adapted to bear against said crossbar, and means adapted to automatically bring said finger into contact with said cross-bar intermittently, and means actuated by said crossbar adapted to stop the operation of the fence machine when said safety finger fails to contact with said crossbar, said means comprising a rock shaft, an arm loosely carried on said rock shaft, a second arm fixed to the rock shaft, a projection carried by said loosely mounted arm and adapted to engage said fixed arm, a link pivotally depending from said fixed arm, a revoluble cam normally engaging the lower end of said link, a second arm fixed to said rock shaft, a pivotally mounted bar having a curved face adapted to be engaged by said second arm, a toothed sliding bar, a ratchet wheel in proximity to the teeth of said bar, a drive shaft carrying said ratchet wheel, and said swinging bar adapted to normally hold the teeth of said sliding bar out of contact with said ratchet wheel, a clutch-operating rod, a set collar on said rod, a sliding block on said rod, and a diagonally disposed link pivoted at one end to said bar and at the opposite end to said block, a clutch member on the drive shaft of said machine, and means connecting the clutch-operating rod and said clutch member, for the purposes set forth.

8. In a wire fence machine, a safety device for line wires comprising yieldingly mounted hooks adapted to engage said line wires, said hooks adapted to normally hold said wires against a crossbar, a movable cross-bar adapted to be contacted by the upper ends of said hooks, a rod connected to said cross-bar, a trip bar, and means on said trip bar for engaging said rod therewith, compression springs adapted to actuate said trip bar when released by said rod, and devices actuated by said trip bar and adapted to stop the machine when the trip bar becomes disengaged from said rod.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE A. RAYMOND. Witnesses:

RAY HART, FLOYD L. PosT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ive cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

